A man who sexually assaulted two women in the Annandale area on consecutive days last week is now in custody, police say.
Kevin Lopez Altan, 24, of Annandale was arrested on Friday (March 22) after allegedly raping a business owner multiple times two days earlier and separately attacking a Northern Virginia Community College student the previous day, the Fairfax County Police Department announced this afternoon (Monday).
At a press conference, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described the assault against the business owner in particular as “abhorrent and inhumane.”
“There is no reason beyond he is evil personified. He’s brutal in his attacks on women. He’s relentless in his attacks on women,” Davis said. “…We’re proud that we were able to put him in handcuffs, but we can’t begin to explain criminal misconduct like his.”
According to police, a man tried to enter a business near John Marr Drive around 11 a.m. on Wednesday (March 20). Since the business was closed, the owner, a 59-year-old woman, told him that he couldn’t enter two times before he forced himself inside when she opened the door to tell him a third time.
The man then held the woman captive inside her own business for “several hours,” police said.
“Throughout this nightmare, the suspect sexually assaulted the victim repeatedly and threatened to kill her if she didn’t do exactly what he told her to do,” Sully District Station Captain Dan Spital said. “The victim found the moment when the suspect’s attention was diverted and bravely took that opportunity to escape.”
After escaping, the woman managed to run to a nearby business, where she asked someone for help. The 911 call came in at 10:13 pm., according to the FCPD.
While investigating the case, FCPD detectives learned that the Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) Police were looking into an attempted sexual assault that had been reported around 8:50 p.m. on Thursday (March 21) at its Annandale campus.
The 20-year-old woman who got attacked is a current student and was able to get assistance from a nearby student in fending off the assault, NOVA Police Chief William “Jake” Jacoby said at the press conference.
After comparing notes, including a composite sketch created by the FCPD, investigators from the two departments determined they were looking for the same individual, according to Spital.
Lopez Alton was identified by a NOVA Police officer who coincidentally recognized a description from FCPD detectives of the suspect’s “unique” tattoos and “mannerisms.” The officer had encountered Lopez Alton in his previous work as a Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy.
When FCPD investigators found that Lopez Alton’s fingerprints matched ones found at the Annandale business, police launched a manhunt for him, targeting shopping centers around Annandale where he was “known to hang out,” Spital said. He was ultimately arrested in the Heritage Center (7617 Little River Turnpike) round 1:20 p.m. on Friday. Read More
